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BORDER PATROL AGENT UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ACTIONS DURING ARREST
The Border Patrol is investigating an incident in which a man arrested on suspicion of immigrant smuggling was forced to hold a sign saying “I Support Our Border Patrol” in his booking photo.  The man, Jesus Ibarra Chavez, also claims agents mocked him during his arrest on February 27. 
Chavez’ attorneys are using the incident to argue that the indictment against him should be dropped.  They call it “outrageous governmental misconduct,” and say it is part of a wider pattern of mistreatment of migrants by Border Patrol agents.  They also compare it to the practice, common during the civil rights movement, of forcing arrested blacks to pose with signs saying “I Support Segregation.”  Experts think it is unlikely that this argument will lead the government to drop the charges. 
The complaint of mistreatment is embarrassing for the Border Patrol, which has been under a court order to prevent civil rights abuses by agents.  A spokesman for the Border Patrol has said that such actions are not common in the agency.  However, other complaints have been lodged against the agent Chavez claims forced him to pose.  According to two migrants detained at the same time as Chavez, the arresting agent punched and kicked them.